30.09.2021
9th Japanese Culture Festival was held in Volgograd
On September 26, Volgograd regional library named after Maksim Gorky hosted a Japanese School Alternative Festival ("Japanese Cupboard" for short) organized by the Library and the "Volgograd – Hiroshima" Friendship Society and uniting many artistic unions from the city and the region.
Japanese board games, fortune telling sessions by a Shinto priestess, origami, quizzes, interactive games — the Festival's program was aimed to provide a total immersion in the culture of the Country of the Rising Sun.
Many attendants arrived in fancy dress costumes inspired by anime and manga (it is these media that often spark an interest towards Japan in general), as well as by various games and books, including those by Russian authors – after all, the Festival's platform was a Library!
Next year, Volgograd and Hiroshima will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of their cooperation, and our Japanese sister-city has taken an active part in the preparation of the Festival's online program. The Mayor of Hiroshima Mr. Kazumi Matsui recorded a video message video message, participants of the International Youth Conference for Peace in the Future prepared a series of video sketches dedicated to series of video sketches "Daily life of Japanese students", and City's international officers kindly helped to compose a quiz on Hiroshima's history quiz on Hiroshima's history.
On the eve of the Festival, a teleconference was held between Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Gorky Volgograd Regional Library, with both sides presenting their work in the area of promoting culture and preserving history of their cities.
We hope that the year 2022, too, will be filled with meaningful initiatives in the area of Volgograd – Hiroshima cooperation.
Ph: @fotoboy34, Ivan Puschin